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This is the North London derby this weekend, and Ian Wright, Arsenal legend, is well aware of its importance.
The former striker spent seven years at Highbury and, on that occasion, he ran into his rivals at White Hart Lane nine times in the Premier League.
Wright scored four goals against Tottenham Hotspur in his years as a Gunners player – including the winner away from home early in the 1993/94 campaign.
After joining the London-based Crystal Palace group in 1991, Wright would not have been much aware of the rivalry between Arsenal and Spurs, but he would do so soon thanks to one particular man.
David Rocastle, who sadly passed away in March 2001, was Wright's best friend and took the initiative to explain the importance of the North London derby in a discussion that lasted several hours.
"Everyone calls him Rocky, and David Rocastle is why I always support Arsenal," Wright recalls in his article on The Players Tribune. "He was the hero of the field in which we grew up – the one who did it.
"The whole property was emptied the day Arsenal beat Liverpool to win the title in 1989 because we were all out looking for a TV to watch Rocky play. He was like a brother to me We had taken the same buses for school to Brockley while growing up, and we were adults, I met him from time to time.
"He would be 16 years old and I would be 20 and he would say to me," You are better than the players I play against. You can do it. You have to try to do it. At a time when no one believed in me, not even myself, Rocky believed in me.
"So, when I had finished my medical exams at Arsenal and that he was there, meanwhile, I knew that I was going to be O.K.
"Rocky m took me under his wing on Day 1. Literally, I went home after my medical exam and he did everything to heal him." He congratulated me, said of Not paying attention to the critics and spending hours explaining the North London derby was important.
"He was so serious about the derby, we had to stay awake until 4-5am on the day of my signing, and half of the conversation was about how not to lose to the Spurs.
"When I started meeting the fans, they always said the same thing:" Make sure to score against the Spurs. If you score against the Spurs, you will instantly be a legend, no matter what you do next. "
"By the time I left Arsenal, I had already scored four times against the Spurs – I could not have done it without Rocky."
This weekend could mark a derby debut in North London for current Arsenal stars such as Bernd Leno, Sokratis, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi.
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